Traditional Osteopathy – Dr. Dustin Sulak and Dr. Danielle Saad
There are two medical degrees recognized in the United States: MD’s, also called allopaths, and DO’s, also called osteopaths. Both go to medical school and have the same rights to care for patients, specialize, and prescribe medications. The difference is that traditional osteopaths believe the body is always striving toward health, and the role of the physician is to facilitate this process and remove obstructions to healing. One of our primary interventions, performed by using our hands to gently adjust the body’s function, is Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, also known as Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT).
We use our hands to sense, diagnose and treat. Instead of searching for symptoms, the osteopath focuses attention on recognizing the priorities set by the client’s innate health and reinforces them. There are many styles of OMT, some more agressive, and others more subtle. Dr. Sulak and Dr. Saad both specialize in cranial and biodynamic styles of osteopathy, both very gentle and effective modalities.
Cranial osteopathy is used to adjust the function and motion of the cranial bones, meninges, and nervous system. Most people don’t recognize that our heads, when healthy, are slowly expanding and contracting, a motion that circulates cerebrospinal fluid, facilitates the detoxification of the central nervous system, and allows the brain tissue to remodle and heal. Cranial osteopathy is especially useful in treating dysfunction of the cranium and sacrum, including post-concussion syndrome, headache, sinus problems, tailbone pain, and more.
The aim of biodynamic osteopathy, founded by James Jealous D.O., is to bring the body to its neutral point, a state where the autonomic nervous system is in balance and patients experience feelings of harmony and unity in their bodies. Free of tensions, the body and its tissues are ready to react to therapeutic forces. Biodynamic osteopathy enables the individual to reach a point where body, spirit and soul are in unity and where holistic healing is possible. Patients who receive osteopathic treatment over a prolonged period learn to maintain their inner balance and remain healthy.
Naprapathic Manipulation – Dr. Shawn Sulak
Naprapathy was founded in the early 1900s as a branch off of chiropractic medicine. With a similar philosophy, naprapathic technique is distinct in its emphasis on the soft tissues in addition to alignment of the bones. Therefore, it’s a full body treatment because everything is connected. It’s much more than just a quick hasty rack-and-crack, and it’s also much more than a massage… It’s the best of both worlds combined together in a unique way. Dr. Shawn treats all presentations of pain, everything from intense acute pain, e.g. “I just threw my back out and I can’t walk,” to chronic pain conditions including scoliosis, old sports injuries, and migraine headaches. Naprapathy is also an excellent maintenance therapy to prevent symptoms – people feel so much better after a good tune-up.
Naprapathic treatments are always custom tailored to fit the needs of the patient. Dr. Shawn also incorporates craniosacral therapy, myofascial release therapy, Reiki, and lymphatic drainage techniques. When indicated, he uses therapeutic modalities including percussion/vibration, thermotherapy (moist heat), electrical muscle stimulation, ultrasound, traction, and flexion/distraction. Treatment plans may also include nutritional counseling and therapeutic rehabilitative exercises and stretches.
